Johns Hopkins Post-Game Press Conference

The Basics
• Score: #17 Birmingham-Southern-4, #21 Johns Hopkins-3 (10)
• Records: JHU (36-12), Birmingham Southern (41-13)
• Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
• Pitching Decision: W – Misischia (10-1) • L – Betz (5-3)
• The Short Story:  Rich Misischia scored from third on a drawn-in, five-man Johns Hopkins infield in the bottom of the 10^th inning to lift 17^th-ranked Birmingham-Southern to a 4-3 win over 21^st-ranked Johns Hopkins at the Division III College World Series Saturday night.

How it Happened
• Birmingham-Southern, which trailed 2-0 and 3-1, loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10^th and the Blue Jays responded by bringing in an extra infielder.  Down 1-2 in the count, Tyler Wise bounced one up the middle that Blue Jay shortstop Mike Eberle fielded between the back of the mound and second base.  Eberle's slightly off-balance throw bounced short of catcher AJ King and Misischia slid home with the game-winning run.
• After scoring just one run through six innings in its World Series opener a day earlier, the Blue Jays needed just five batters to grab a two-run lead in the top of the first.  Junior Chris Festa's solo home run to right was followed by a double from classmate Nate Davis and then a run-scoring single from senior Chris DeGiacomo to account for JHU's two early runs against Panther starter Jake Cook; both runs came with two outs.
• The Panthers got one back it the bottom of the second as a Luke DePiero single up the middle was followed by an RBI-double by Alfredo Granier to make it 2-1 Blue Jays after two.
•  Hopkins got that run back in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single from Tim Kutcher that plated sophomore Matt Ritchie, who had opened the inning with a single to right.  The Blue Jays had a chance to get more in the fourth, but Cook and reliever Hanan Mauldin worked out of a two-on, one-out jam to limit JHU to the single run.
•  The 3-1 Blue Jay lead held until the bottom of the sixth, when Birmingham-Southern got a two-out, solo home run of its own from senior Tyler Hamel.
•  The Panthers pulled even in the bottom of the eighth as Cole Steadman opened the inning with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a balk.  He scored one batter later on a Brian Williams ground out to make it 3-3.
•  Both teams had chances to win in the ninth as the Blue Jays stranded runners at first and third in the top of the inning and the Panthers had the potential winning run at second base with one out, but Blue Jay pitcher Preston Betz worked out of the jam by picking off A.J. Hunt and then DePiero popped out to end the threat.
•  Johns Hopkins stranded one runner in the top of the 10^th to set the stage for the Panthers' game-ending rally in the bottom of the inning.

Team Leaders
Johns Hopkins:
Hits: DeGiacomo-2
RBI: Three with-1
Strikeouts: Bunting-8

Birmingham-Southern:
Hits: Granier-3
RBI:  Three with-1
Strikeouts:  Cook-3

What it Means
• Johns Hopkins slips to 36-12 on the year and had its nine-game winning streak snapped.
• Hopkins in now 6-3 all-time in one-run games at the College World Series.

Inside the Box Score
• Festa's home run in the first inning pushed JHU's school-record and nation-leading total to 82 on the year.
• Jack Bunting struck out eight Panthers without allowing a walk.  His eight strikeouts are tied for the second-highest total by a JHU pitcher in a College World Series game.
• DeGiacomo went 2-for-5 and is 5-for-10 in JHU's two CWS games.

Up Next
• The Blue Jays will meet Babson in an elimination game on Sunday, June 2 at 1:15 pm (CT).